The Great Cigarette Crackdown

The anti-cigarette law received a black eye yesterday in Judge Hanford's court, although he did not pass upon the merits of the questions raised. The case came before him on the application for writs of habeas corpus directing Sheriff Norton, of Clarke county, to produce in court M. L. Covert, a retail tobacco dealer of Vancouver, who had been arrested and committed to jail by Superior Judge Wiswall, of Clarke county, on eight different charges for a violation of the anti-cigarette law. The action was instituted by C. E. S. Wood, an attorney of Portland, on behalf of the American Tobacco company for the purpose of testing the validity of the law, it being alleged that the law interfered with commerce between the states. The contention of the petitioner is that the small package of cigarettes is an original package of the manufacturer, and hence that its sale cannot be abridged by a state law. Counsel argued that it would be an unjust discrimination to say that a large cigar might be sold, while smaller ones could not. Judge Hanford said that as the case was an important one he would grant the writs, as that was the only way the case could be reviewed in a higher court.